What the Heck - UPDATE AND QUESTION

Fins us on Amazon
Advertise with us
Shop with us on Ebay
The Rat Shack Forum

Help Support The Rat Shack Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Cityratt

Cityratt

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
1,543
Location
Guelph, On
So to fast track - S is now in her retirement Condo and living life to the fullest (crazy little woman motors around like no other) and is doing reasonably well considering her age and health....She still gets visits from her buddies daily and really seems alot happier overall - Shes been out of the FN for about 3 weeks now

Yesterday however, Indi was terrorizing everyone. EVERYONE. from bottom of the totempole Bowie right up there to Rube and Maverick the resident alpha sisters....I dont know what the heck got into her but she was chasing everyone around really causing a ruckus - to the point where I was tempted to remover her from the FN... I dont know whats causing that to be honest, it seems to have died down a little but shes still being a bit of a bully to everyone (screaming, chasing, pinning) no blood shed but things are not as settled as they have been ALL along....and we've had everyone together for over 6 months now with no issues other than slight squabbles....

S was not near the top of the pecking order, so Its not like the Alpha was removed and everyone is scrabling for her position....

I seriously cannot figure this girl out - shes eating and drinking ok, still the same old Indi...and then she climbs into the hammy and rat piles with NO issues....what the heck?!

ALSO! Bowie is squabbling more and more, but I think this is just normal coming of age and being tired of being at the bottom of the pecking order....

But i was thinking about moving little Baby Mac into the mix....should I wait until all this other stuff is settled? I really think she needs to be in with the others...and thought that maybe Bowie having another youngster around would help her in the long run (Freaks out a little because 5 of my 8 rats are over 2 years old :gaah: )

Ideas?
 
It probably all has to do with the shifting of positions which can happen quite frequently. How old is Baby Mac? I'd probably try intros sooner rather than later... you don't want another major shifting when that starts. Rats are just plain silly.
 
Yeah, sounds like the shifting positions gave Indi hope of getting to the top of the pecking order, LOL. How old is Indi?
 
We adopted her and Lili from THS - we placed them at around 2 years now....Rube and Mav are 2.5 years about
 
So the "oldies" are in the bottom of the FN and i havnt heard boo from them! :joy: :joy: So i think the root of indi's problems was just annoyance and now the girlies can lounge around all day without little twerps annoying the socks off them....

So i have Goose and Dewey in the top, with Bowie, and now little Mac - we did initial intros with all 8 and none of them really noticed Mac. So i popped her in the FN...with her own little places to escape to and her hidey house from her own little cage so she would feel at home....

And shes doing well - exploring eating drinking napping...but Bowie is being a little furbutt and is tormenting her. No outright attacking - but chasing her around and trying to pin her and just being a big bully jerkface. And this behavior is what got Indi all riled up in the first place! BOWIE! :wallbang: :wallbang:

I know they need to establish hierarchies, and after that if nothing changes the "fighting" usually decreases and is at a minimum...im not worried for Mac's safety - shes not THAT mortified that she wont eat/drink/rest but Bowie is really being a jerk about everything lately....

I guess my question is how long does it generally take for relationships to form when the other party isnt really putting up resistance...its hard for me to sit there and watch my little Mac get bullied so :(

The boys are doing really well with Mac being in there - Goose calmly walked over to her and licked her head a couple of times when we first put her in there :heart:
 
That Bowie is a bully through and through. It can take a few months, even a year or even a majour shift in the cage can stop or start unwanted behaviour. How old is Mac? If she's still young, (under a year) then once she matures, things might change and she won't allow the bullying. Does Bowie torment the boys?
 
Bowie does tend to torment everyone :( the boys less than Mac... She used to be more sedate - everyone was basically getting along, i guess once she matured she decided to annoy the pants off everyone? I dont know... I almost wish she was a boy and i could just neuter her...

Bow is around 6-8months i figure...Mac is 4 months ish i think
 

Latest posts

Back
Top